So if you hit a deer and went sliding down the road at 65+mph, totaling the bike in the process, you wouldn't make an insurance claim?

I'm not calling insurance for stuff like bent handlebars and scratches. But if manage to total the bike I'll call them for sure.

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Exactly. Actually I can't make a claim because I don't have coverage for that. I would just fix what broke.

In fact I once did just what you said except it was an owl that took me out. The bike was surely damaged beyond its value. I even had full coverage back then since I had a loan. But I didn't want my bike totaled. So I put it back together just like any other crash. Then I blew through a berm and hit a tree a few weeks later destroying what I had just repaired and did it again.

Then my next bike was stolen. It did have theft coverage. With the theft claim I took a check for the total loss value, signed a waiver with SF then kept the recovered and thoroughly trashed bike. I used the money to rebuild it better than it had been and rode that one for years afterward. Just the way it is with dirt bikes. I don't want the bike gone, I want it repaired.

But I do my own work and tend to keep my bikes for along time. Maybe I am weird, but I would rather have the smoking remains of my bike and a project than a check.